Trump Administration Likely to Abandon HIIPP Rule

A second Donald Trump presidency will likely spell the death of OSHA’s recently published heat safety rule, but experts say it won’t necessarily mean no standard will come to pass. The agency published the proposed rule and began accepting public comments this summer. That time period will close on December 30. Then it would take several months for OSHA to review all of the input, finalize the rule, and put it into effect. But Ashley Brightwell, partner in Atlanta-based Alston & Bird’s labor and employment group, called the finalization of the rule “highly unlikely” before President Biden leaves office. The standard would also face congressional and legal challenges, and she added the Trump administration could abandon the rulemaking process altogether. The 1,000-page rule requires a Heat Injury and Illness Prevention Plan, or HIIPP, that employers would need to put into effect for a heat trigger when temperatures reach 80 degrees Fahrenheit.